Scottish Executive

Birds

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the population of (a) cormorants, (b) goosanders and (c) red breasted mergansers was in each year since 1994, also expressed as a percentage of the 1994 figures.

Allan Wilson: This information is not held directly by the Executive. The following estimates and commentary have been supplied by Scottish Natural Heritage. Data are available separately for breeding pairs and for the peak wintering population.

  Breeding Population:

  Figures for the breeding population of goosander are available only for the year 1987, when the estimated population in Scotland was about 1,443 breeding pairs. In 1997, when the survey was repeated on a sample selection of the river lengths surveyed in 1987, no significant change in the breeding population was estimated to have taken place.

  Red breasted mergansers breed in coastal areas and no reliable estimate of the breeding population has ever been obtained.

  Breeding cormorants have only been censused fully in the years 1985-87 and more recently for Seabird 2000, although figures for this latter survey are not yet compiled. Overall trends for cormorant populations, where detailed surveys of individual colonies are undertaken, show that declines in population have occurred.

  Wintering Population:

  Counts for wintering populations are available from Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) counts, though for all species these are not complete surveys, especially for red-breasted merganser and cormorant which are predominantly coastal dwelling birds. However, WeBS data showing peak counts for Scotland as a whole are provided for each species in the following tables. The proportional change from 1994 is also shown as well as the month in which the peak population was counted.

  The populations of red breasted merganser and goosander wintering in Scotland are thought to include birds from breeding grounds in Scandinavia and continental Europe. The proportion of birds from these areas has not been determined.

  Cormorant

  


Year 
  

Peak count
  (during September to March period) 


Percentage of 1994 figure 
  

Month of peak count 
  



1994-95 
  

3,001 
  

100% 
  

January 
  



1995-96 
  

3,796 
  

126% 
  

November 
  



1996-97 
  

2,873 
  

96% 
  

December 
  



1997-98 
  

2,578 
  

86% 
  

October 
  



1998-99 
  

2,147 
  

72% 
  

September 
  



1999-2000 
  

2,826 
  

94% 
  

October 
  



  Goosander

  


Year 
  

Peak count
  (during September to March period) 


Percentage of 1994 figure 
  

Month of peak count 
  



1994-95 
  

1,157 
  

100% 
  

February 
  



1995-96 
  

1,473 
  

127% 
  

December 
  



1996-97 
  

1,303 
  

113% 
  

January 
  



1997-98 
  

1,220 
  

105% 
  

November 
  



1998-99 
  

1,096 
  

95% 
  

December 
  



1999-2000 
  

993 
  

86% 
  

January 
  



  Red-Breasted Merganser

  


Year 
  

Peak count
  (during September to March period) 


Percentage of 1994 figure 
  

Month of peak count 
  



1994-95 
  

2,981 
  

100% 
  

December 
  



1995-96 
  

1,813 
  

61% 
  

October 
  



1996-97 
  

2,045 
  

69% 
  

October 
  



1997-98 
  

1,520 
  

51% 
  

October 
  



1998-99 
  

1,663 
  

56% 
  

December 
  



1999-2000 
  

1,597 
  

54% 
  

February

Cancer

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to deal with staff shortages as a result of the three consultants’ resignations that have taken place at the Beatson Oncology Unit.

Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answers given to questions S1W-19754 (26 November 2001), S1W-19873 (28 December 2001) and S1W-19874 (28 December 2001).

Civil Service

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what regulations exist with regard to the involvement of civil servants working directly for ministers in constituency matters and what sanctions exist should these regulations be breached by ministers or civil servants.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Civil Service Management Code sets out the rules for civil servants. Disciplinary arrangements are a matter for the Scottish Executive within the framework set out in this code. The code is available at:

  www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/civilservice/managementcode/csmc.pdf.

  Ministers are responsible for justifying their conduct to Parliament in line with the separate Scottish Ministerial Code. This is available at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library2/doc03/smic-00.htm.

Enterpise

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it is currently making to BAE SYSTEMS plc in opposition to the transfer of the Nimrod programme from Prestwick to Chadderton, Greater Manchester.

Ms Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-19722 on 7 January 2002.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Declaratory (Controlled Area) (Scotland) (No.3) Order 2001 (SSI 2001/111) has been revoked and, if so, whether it will state what subordinate legislation revoked this Order and, if it has not been revoked, why not.

Ross Finnie: The Foot-and-Mouth Disease Declaratory (Controlled Area) (Scotland) (No 3) Order 2001 has not been revoked. There is still a possibility that there could be latent disease in some sheep flocks in the north of England and the south of Scotland. However, if the disease position is maintained early in the New Year then it is hoped that the whole of Great Britain will become free of foot-and-mouth disease and the country’s Controlled Area status will be able to be removed by early February.

Hospitals

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the European Commission’s proposed Physical Agents directives first published in April 1993.

Ms Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-19339 on 17 December 2001.

Ministerial Responsibilities

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will clarify the role and remit of the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport with regard to VisitScotland and the British Tourist Authority (BTA).

Mr Jack McConnell: The Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport is responsible for setting strategic objectives for VisitScotland. The Minister for Culture, Media and Sport within the UK Government has similar responsibility in respect of the British Tourist Authority. Westminster ministers are required to consult Scottish Executive ministers before taking decisions that will affect BTA activity in respect of Scotland.

Parliamentary Questions

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why it has not yet given a substantive answer to question S1W-19800, lodged on 7 November 2001, and when it will do so.

Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-19800 on 3 January 2001.

Public Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote and support guided busways.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive has awarded £6.093 million from the Public Transport Fund to City of Edinburgh Council’s West of Edinburgh Busways project. This project includes two sections of guided busway.

  The promotion of guided busways schemes is a matter for individual transport authorities and the Scottish Executive will consider any such proposals alongside other potential public transport improvements.

Public Transport

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the funding to be made available to local authorities in October 2002 in respect of the introduction of concessionary travel for the elderly will be ring-fenced.

Lewis Macdonald: No. The additional resources have been made available in the general local government settlement from 2002-03 and were distributed through the Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) system. GAE allowances are not intended in general to determine councils’ local policy choices, but to form part of the needs-based local government settlement distribution formula.

Rail Network

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-19848 by Sarah Boyack on 23 November 2001, (a) on what dates since 1 March 2001 it has had meetings at which the subject of vertical integration of the rail network was discussed and (b) with which relevant bodies and individuals each such meeting was held, where and who instigated each such meeting.

Lewis Macdonald: There is nothing further to add. As the member will be aware, it is not usual to provide details of discussions between ministers and third parties.

Rail Network

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning stated at the announcement on 4 December 2001 of the Edinburgh Crossrail Project that Beauly Station had already opened and, if so, why, and when trains will be in a position to stop at the platform.

Lewis Macdonald: The Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning referred on 4 December to the originally scheduled date for the re-opening of the Beauly Station, 30 November 2001. Cancellation of this schedule was notified to the Executive only on the date in question, and the minister was informed on 5 December.

  The re-opening of Beauly Station is a matter for Railtrack and Health and Safety Executive.

Rural Development

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-19962 by Allan Wilson on 11 December 2001, what bids for funding have been made for 2002-03 from organisations or communities in (a) Fife, (b) Perth and Kinross and (c) Angus under each of the three elements of the Scottish Rural Partnership Fund.

Allan Wilson: The Rural Challenge Fund (RCF), Rural Strategic Support Fund (RSSF) and Local Capital Grants Scheme (LCGS), are the three elements which together make up the Scottish Rural Partnership Fund. The Fund is operated by an annual bidding process, and the closing date for applications to the 2002-03 round was 12 October 2001.

  Analysis of the bids received show the following results for the Fife, Angus and Perth and Kinross districts:

  

 

RCF 
  

RSSF 
  

LCGS 
  



Fife 
  

1 bid 
  

0 bids 
  

0 bids 
  



Angus 
  

6 bids 
  

1 bid 
  

4 bids 
  



Perth & Kinross 
  

5 bids 
  

1 bid 
  

4 bids 
  



  All bids received are currently being assessed and an announcement will be made early this year.

Schools

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in expanding the number of community schools.

Nicol Stephen: Sixty-two projects involving over 400 schools are supported by the New Community School pilot programme at present. Last month we announced that £30.6 million would be provided to local authorities over the next two years to support roll out of the new community school approach across all schools in Scotland. We have recently written to authorities inviting them to submit their plans for using these resources which are additional to, and separate from, provision under the pilot programme.

Schools

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives that encourage people to stand for election to school boards it has supported in each of the last five years.

Nicol Stephen: In 1997, 1999 and 2001 we produced and distributed some 700,000 election publicity leaflets to local authorities for circulation to parents of school pupils in Scotland in order to promote parental involvement in school board elections. These distributions coincided with elections for vacancies for parent members on school boards. In 2001 we produced a poster to accompany the leaflets. In 2000 the School Boards (Scotland) Act 1988 was amended to allow for a simpler election process to encourage more people to stand for election.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will allow the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s regional laboratories to undertake any contract analysis.

Allan Wilson: Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is permitted to accept contract analysis work, provided it does not detract from the exercise of SEPA’s statutory functions or ability to meet corporate objectives.

Scottish Transport Group Pension Schemes

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18626 by Lewis MacDonald on 28 November, whether the information provided was available to it before 18 December 2000 and, if so, on what date and whether the ex-gratia payments to Scottish Transport Group pension schemes members that it announced on the 18 December 2000 were discussed at any meeting of the Cabinet and, if so, on what dates.

Lewis Macdonald: I understand that the Report and Accounts of the Scottish Transport Group pension schemes for the year ended 31 March 2000 were published by the trustees prior to 18 December 2000. Publication and timing of publication is a matter for the trustees.

  It would be inappropriate to provide information which would harm the frankness and candour of discussion and advice, including the proceedings of Scottish Cabinet.

Scottish Transport Group Pension Schemes

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a breakdown of the £18 million to be distributed to members under the Scottish Transport Group pension Scheme and how much of this amount derives from the (a) reduction in tax from 40% to 35% and (b) increase in the value of the surplus from 31 March 2000 to 31 March 2001.

Lewis Macdonald: The additional £18 million secured by Scottish ministers for distribution to former members of the Scottish Transport Group pension schemes represents the estimated increase in the surplus of the schemes to 31 March 2001 of some £8 million; the remainder of the additional distribution of some £10 million is as a result of tax changes.

Special Advisers

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to reduce the number of special advisors to the First Minister.

Mr Andy Kerr: Under the terms of the Civil Service Order in Council 1995 as amended by the Civil Service (Amendment) Order in Council 1999, which is still in force, up to 12 special advisers can be appointed by the First Minister. There are no current plans to change that order.

Special Advisers

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any of its special advisers have any entitlement to terminal payments in the event of termination of their employment and what the full details of any such entitlements are.

Mr Andy Kerr: In accordance with the terms of their employment, special advisers are entitled to a severance payment in the event of termination of employment without notice. The amount of entitlement is currently calculated as follows:

  Advisers whose appointment is terminated within six months of appointment receive one month’s salary regardless of age.

  Advisers under age 34 when appointment terminates receive three months salary.

  Advisers aged 34 on termination of appointment receive a severance payment at a rate half-way between three months’ pay and the appropriate over 35 rate.

  Advisers aged 35 or over receive three months pay if appointment terminates during the first year of service and thereafter an extra one month’s pay for each completed year of service after the first, subject to a maximum of six months’ pay.

Special Advisers

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether former special advisers to it, following termination of employment, are immediately eligible for any appointment to posts in non-governmental organisations or for other appointments within the recommendation, gift or nomination of the Executive or First Minister.

Mr Andy Kerr: The contract of employment for special advisers states that in certain circumstances Advisers should obtain the agreement of the Crown before accepting any offer of employment outside the civil service which would start within two years of leaving Crown employment.

  In common with other members of the public, there is nothing to prohibit former special advisers from applying for an appointment to a public body. All such appointments are made on merit after a fair, open and transparent process, which is subject to independent scrutiny.

Special Advisers

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will investigate the statements made in Scotland on Sunday on 11 November 2001 regarding the involvement of special advisers in assisting the former First Minister in relation to his constituency accounts.

Mr Andy Kerr: There are no plans to investigate.

Special Advisers

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what civil servants and/or special advisers reported directly to the former First Minister and, of those, which worked with him from Friday 2 November to Monday 5 November in relation to his constituency accounts.

Mr Andy Kerr: Nine special advisers reported directly to the former First Minister prior to and during the period 2-5 November with terms and conditions remaining the same throughout. Regarding those who may have worked with him in relation to his constituency accounts, I refer the member to my reply to question S1W-19898.

Strategic Rail Authority

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been consulted on, or is aware of, any plans by the Strategic Rail Authority to locate any personnel in Scotland.

Lewis Macdonald: The effective management of the resources of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), including the deployment of its staff, is a matter for the SRA’s Executive Board. The SRA have not informed the Executive of any plans to relocate staff to Scotland.

Teacher Training

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin & Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of students recruited to primary teacher training courses in each year since 1994.

Nicol Stephen: The following table shows the numbers of students recruited to primary teacher training courses in each year since 1994.

  


Intakes to Primary Courses of Initial Teacher 
  Education 
  



 


1994-95 
  

1995-96 
  

1996-97 
  

1997-98 
  

1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01* 
  

2001-02* 
  



BEd 
  

754 
  

824 
  

755 
  

640 
  

648 
  

649 
  

708 
  

745 
  



Postgraduate Certificate in Education 
  

255 
  

315 
  

322 
  

273 
  

272 
  

346 
  

335 
  

745 
  



Total 
  

1,009 
  

1,139 
  

1,077 
  

913 
  

920 
  

995 
  

1,043 
  

1,490 
  



  Note:

  * figures are provisional

  The considerable increase in the intake numbers to the Postgraduate Certificate in Primary Education course in session 2001-02 is a result of implementing the terms of the agreement A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century.

Teacher Training

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin & Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of students recruited to secondary teacher training courses in each year since 1994.

Nicol Stephen: The following table shows the numbers of students recruited to secondary teacher training courses in each year since 1994.

  


Intakes to Secondary Courses of Initial 
  Teacher Education 
  



 


1994-95 
  

1995-96 
  

1996-97 
  

1997-98 
  

1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01* 
  

2001-02* 
  



BEd 
  

182 
  

362 
  

381 
  

377 
  

400 
  

367 
  

329 
  

368 
  



Postgraduate Certificate in Education 
  

1,191 
  

1,003 
  

892 
  

902 
  

863 
  

1,005 
  

991 
  

1,116 
  



Total 
  

1,373 
  

1,365 
  

1,273 
  

1,279 
  

1,263 
  

1,372 
  

1,320 
  

1,484 
  



  Note:

  * figures are provisional

Teachers

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation will take place regarding proposed revised placements on the salary scale for new teachers based upon their level of experience, what criteria will be applied to inform decisions on such placements and when any proposed changes will be made known.

Nicol Stephen: New salary placement arrangements are being devised by the Conditions of Service Working Group of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT). This body includes representatives of the Scottish Executive Education Department, local authorities and teacher organisations. All parties have received a significant number of representations on this issue and members of the SNCT met a delegation of mature students on 5 December 2001.

  New salary placement regulations are expected to be put before the next meeting of the SNCT on 31 January 2002 for consideration.

Teachers

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs would be of transitional arrangements for mature student teachers (a) currently in years 2, 3 and 4 of their Bachelor of Education degree course and (b) currently undertaking postgraduate courses, so that they will not be financially disadvantaged by any changes instigated under the McCrone settlement and when any such arrangements could be implemented.

Nicol Stephen: The cost of transitional arrangements would depend upon their nature and to whom they would be paid. No such decisions have been taken. The Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers will meet on 31 January 2002 to give further consideration to salary placement regulations and transitional arrangements for those currently on courses of initial teacher education in Scotland.